55.

٥٥. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:

«مَنْ لَمْ يَدَعْ قَوْلَ الزُّورِ وَالْعَمَلَ بِهِ فَلَيْسَ لِلّٰهِ حَاجَةٌ فِي أَنْ يَدَعَ طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَهُ».

55. Abu Huraira (r.a.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“Whoever does not give up forged speech and evil actions, Allah is not in need of his leaving his food and drink (i.e. Allah will not accept his fasting).” (Bukhari, Sawm, 8, Edeb, 51. Also see Abu Dawud, Sawm, 26/2362; Tirmidhi, Sawm, 16/707; Ibn Majah, Siyam, 21)

 

Explanations:

Ramadan, the Sultan of the 12 months^[1], is a blessed^[2] time period and a month of worship. In this month, the doors of heaven open up and divine mercy beams everywhere. More rewards are given to worships performed and good deeds done in this month than the rest of the year. Sins are also forgiven in this month. Muslims live through a season of intensive acts of worship in congregation.

The main reasons why the month of Ramadan is so virtuous are:

• Our guide to salvation, the Noble Qur’an, started to be revealed in this month. (Al-Baqarah; 2:185)

• The Night of Power^[3] (laylat al-qadr) that Allah said is “better than a thousand months” ^[4] is in this month.

• The most important reason is that our Almighty Lord made one month of the year a season of worship by blessing it as a favor to His servants. Those believers who take advantage of this opportunity reflect the Noble Qur’an and Sunnah in their lives, and reach to Eid (Festival) by earning many divine rewards free from their sins.

Since the season of Ramadan circles around the year because it’s one of the months of the lunar year, Muslims show that they worship Allah under all circumstances with sincerity and with submission.

It is definitely easier to enter Paradise by earning divine rewards and stay away from Hell by defeating Satan in this virtuous month. Since the carnal self, who is the biggest helper of Satan, is being disciplined with fasting, it is easier to stay away from wrongdoings in Ramadan. Then, Muslims should take advantage of the opportunity of Ramadan, and should do their best to give their fasting its due, to recite the Noble Qur’an, to remember Allah, spend the nights worshipping Allah, and to perform many good deeds and help others.

The Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) would live Ramadan with great enthusiasm and excitement and ensured that their children also experienced this spiritual climate. As a matter of fact, Umar (r.a.) said to a person who got drunk in Ramadan:

“Shame on you!  Even our children are fasting.” (Bukhari, Sawm, 47)

As we spend the days of Ramadan with fasting, it is also necessary to take advantage of the nights of Ramadan with the Tarawih Prayers (salat al-tarawih) and midnight Prayers (salat al-tahajjud), recitations of Qur’an and remembrance of Allah. The Messenger of Allah gave us the good news:

“Whoever spends the nights of Ramadan out of sincere faith, and hoping for a reward only from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven.” (Bukhari, Tarawih, 46)

One day, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) came out his house, and he saw a group of people praying at the corner of the mosque. He asked:

“What are they doing?”

“They do not know the Qur’an well, so Ubayy b. Ka’b (r.a.) is leading them in their prayers!”

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“They did the right thing and it is good what they did!” (Abu Dawud, Ramadan, 1/1377)

On the other hand, both the obligatory alms (zakat) and supererogatory alms become more important in this month. As a matter of fact, when it is asked to the Messenger of Allah:

“What kind of alms (sadaqah) is more virtuous?” He said:

“The one given in Ramadan!” (Tirmidhi, Zakat, 28/663)

The word “sadaqah” in this hadith means the obligatory alms (zakat) in Arabic. For this reason, it is better to give zakat in Ramadan. The Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) used to give amply their Sadaqah al-Fitr (alms given during the month of Ramadan) and other charities in this month.^[5] That is because the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) informed us that Sadaqah al-Fitr is obligatory for adults and children, males and females, independents and slaves and it is either one sa‘ from date or barley.^[6] (Bukhari, Zakat, 70-78; Muslim, Zakat, 13)

By giving the Sadaqah al-Fitr before the Festival Prayer (salat al-eid), it should be ensured that the poor also experience the joy of eid.

In order to take advantage of the blessings of Ramadan, one must increase his generosity. As a matter of fact, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) used to act this way.

Ibn Abbas (r.a.) narrated:

“The Prophet was the most generous amongst the people, and he used to be more so in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel visited him, and Gabriel used to meet him on every night of Ramadan till the end of the month. The Prophet used to recite the Holy Qur’an to Gabriel, and when Gabriel met him, he used to be more generous than a fast wind (which causes rain and welfare). (Bukhari, Bad al-Wahy, 5, 6; Sawm, 7; Manaqib, 23; Bad al-Khalk, 6; Fadail al-Qur’an, 7; Adab, 39; Muslim, Fadail, 48, 50)

Fasting comes to mind when Ramadan is mentioned. Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam. Allah the Almighty made fasting obligatory to the followers of previous religions, too. Fasting is a worship that contains various and deep meanings. Fasting is also the act of worship furthest away from insincerity and showing off. For this reason, Allah said that fasting is performed especially for Him.

For each good deed, divine rewards are given as much as ten to seven hundred times of the deed performed. However, fasting is excluded from this. Allah Himself will give the reward of fasting and will make His servants who perform fasting happy both in this world and in the Hereafter and will host them in His Paradise.

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“There is a gate in Paradise called Ar-Raiyan, and those who observe fasts will enter through it on the Day of Resurrection and none except them will enter through it…”(Bukhari, Sawm, 4; Muslim, Siyam, 166)

There are many benefits for His servants in the commands of Allah, and there is much harm in the prohibitions of Allah. Even though human capacity can comprehend some of the wisdom and reasons behind them, most are beyond our capacity. As a matter of fact, in our worships to Allah, the main thing is to perform them sincerely, and therefore, the search for wisdom and reasons is not that important. Muslim scholars say that there are many known and unknown benefits of fasting and mention some of the known benefits that they can understand. Some of them are as follows:

Fasting that keeps humans away from the temptations of the carnal self and teaches us how to be patient advances us to the level of piety by training us in a certain way for self-control and discipline. Due to fasting, one realizes better the value of the blessings that he has. The feelings of mercy and affection in his heart improve and he starts to discern better the needy in the society. He gets filled with the feelings of thanks to Allah and mercy and aid to His servants.

On the other hand, the benefits of fasting to our health are known to all.

In order fasting to be beneficial for the spiritual life, it must be performed by balancing the harmony between the body and soul. In other words, while the body is fasting, the heart, carnal self, and the other body parts should also fast and stay away from all kinds of forbidden (harams) and reproachable acts (makruh). The essence of fasting is to elevate one’s spiritual state in the sight of Allah and to gain sensitivity in obeying Allah’s commands and prohibitions. For this reason, those who fast should avoid lying, slandering, backbiting, gossiping, using strong language or cursing, fighting, and all the other wrongdoings and sins. Those believers who fast should know how to respond peacefully to those who treat them impolitely. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) informed us that Allah does not accept the fast of those who do not perform their fasting in this way. When fasting is not performed as it should be, one misses the opportunity to receive the spiritual perfection and virtue of fasting while he only fulfills his responsibility.

One should not forget that the aim of fasting is not to torture or bother the body. For this reason, in the verses that the fasting is commanded, Allah says “Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put to difficulties.”^[7]  Practices such as Sawm-ı wisal^[8] that cause difficulty to humans are prohibited. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) paid attention to wake up for the Sahur (the meal before dawn during Ramadan) and to be quick in iftar (the breaking of the Ramadan fast), and said that there is a blessing in Sahur meal,^[9] and as long as they act quick in breaking their fast, Muslims will continue to live the right path.^[10]   By improving the individual and the society, the real goal in fasting is to fulfill our responsibility to Allah, to discipline our inner selves and advance our spiritual state to piety, to ensure a peaceful environment with which Allah will be content.